Story Changes Culture Book Club member tells us how stories have contributed to her self awareness
In a new quarterly feature, we meet Story Changes Culture Book Club members. Ashley Akerberg is based in Portland, Oregon and works as an employee engagement and organizations development specialist, as well as an emotional intelligence coach. Read on to learn more about why stories matter to her and why this Book Club connects with her.
Q: We’re so excited to hear more about our Book Club members! Ashley, please tell us about you.
Ashley: I spent the first ten years of my career working in education. I served communities across the spectrum of racial and economic privilege and cultivated a deep care and commitment to addressing structural inequities. I then made a big career pivot into HR, employee engagement and organizational development in the private sector in tech. I also work in my off-hours as an Emotional Intelligence Coach with a tech startup specializing in mobile learning and I participate in community organizing around anti-racism. I was born and raised in rural Western Oregon and have since moved near and far away, but most recently relocated from the Bay Area back to Oregon during the pandemic to be closer to friends and family. I currently work remotely full time from my home outside of Portland, Oregon. I live with my husband and one and a half year old son. I love trail running, free-diving, writing, and travel, but spend more of my time these days gardening and following my son around as he explores our backyard in a raincoat and boots.
Ashley Akerberg
Q: Why did you join the Story Changes Culture Book Club?
Ashley: I joined the Story Changes Culture Book Club because, having been a former high school English teacher, I missed talking to people about books! I also love connecting and reflecting with other smart women about topics that matter in our lives. This book club sounded like the perfect combination of those two drivers. Also, with all the competing demands of my life, it can be hard to actually get out of the house for in-person events, so the remote engagement was attractive.
Q: Why do books and stories in a variety of formats matter to you?
Ashley: The variety of combinations of content and structure of stories allows for a range of impact and experience. I can read a three line poem that leaves me tearful and breathless, a novel that takes me away for hours, or a nonfiction essay that makes me want to jump into action and reconfigure an entire aspect of my life.
Q: What role do you think stories play in our culture today?
Ashley: Stories are everything: our beliefs are stories, our identities are stories, our many roles, and worldviews and relationships are all stories we tell ourselves. Our cultural conditioning are the unchecked stories we get from our culture(s). Becoming critically aware of the stories that shape me, deciding which to buy into, which to let go of and which to recreate, has been the most profound and empowering part of becoming an adult aware human for me.
Q: What are you reading now and do you recommend it?
Ashley: I am reading The Island of Sea Women by Lisa See and yes yes yes, I would recommend it! It’s part powerful historical fiction, part a story of transformative female friendship, all in the context of the matriarchal free-diving Haenyeo culture. These women dive in near freezing temperatures, securing sustenance for their families, with reports that they would sometimes go into labor while diving, swim up to the boat and give birth right there! Everyone should hear about the impossible feats, power, and impact of these women.